Warwickshire Avon - Beef Cubes and Bedswervers

The CAD was flowing at it usually does on a work day but today working from the office, I had to pull the blind down a little because the sun was particularly strong and whiting out the screen. The skies were blue  and that lunchtime walk around the industrial estate to see my carp friends was rather nice I must admit.

Then within half an hour and to rub it in I had a WhatsApp from my brother who was walking Miguel his staffy on the rather lovely Westward Ho! beach and then a message from Buffalo Si who was keeping me in the loop of his fishing, as I was hoping to join him later to try and catch a chub. 

Then Nic Avon Angling left me a voice message where after struggling for bites, was bagging up on the Avon, and Dave Williams from the WBAS syndicate was on the trent sunning himself as well in a tropical 11 degrees. 

 😭  

I wonder what I've done wrong in life 🤔

Sadly my 'lot' to get that fishing fix after packing the gear in the car the night before was when I was heading home was to drop in to one of my favorite sections of the Avon and try and winkle out a fish. So after and early start at 4.00pm I was on-route to the Avon for that quick smash and grab session.

I'd some chinese treats to try which wasn't going down well in work so I thought I'd try then for chub. They are small beef cubes, slight smaller than oxo cubes, but perfect to try for the fish that will literally eat anything, and you know what I'm like for trying different baits for chub. 

Obviously I had some bread and cheesepaste for backup. I tried them, and yeah, maybe if they were the only food left on earth, not the best. 

Anyway around Kenilworth where a HS2 14,500-tonne box structure is being built, out of nowhere a thick blanket of mist could be seen in the distance. The structure which will carry the railway underneath, will be moved into place. The structure has been built next to the carriageway and I've watched its construction since they broke ground. 

Nearly every day when I've driven by there has been hundreds of orange clad works on-site building the construction even in sub zero temperatures, which I must admit is rather impressive.

Anyway with the mist seemingly was getting worse and worse however when I eventually got the tackle out the car and hot-footed it to the river it was a rather nice setting I must admit.

Si wasn't where I thought he would be but there was an angler I've had many a conversations with over the last couple of seasons and he was just about to leave.

He had blanked and was just heading home, hmm not a good omen, anyway when I eventually found Buffalo Si who had fished all day with the same result this didn't bode well for me now did it.

This time of year dusk turns in to dark very quickly doesn't it, so after choosing a often productive swim I put on the beefy cubes as a starter for ten and got fishing.

With small swims like this if there isn't fish home there is no point staying put however after twenty minutes I decided to put some cheesepaste on instead as even the gluttonous chub didn't fancy these Chinese delights. 😁 (to be fair these individually wrapped 'treats' are destined for the landfill)  

Anyway after 5 mins I missed a classic chub bite where I could actually feel through the rod the line pull through the paste and actually prick the fish. 

Damn it 😬 that could have been my only chance as the curfew was only half an hour away.

I re-baited and cast out again hoping the chub would come back for more, but sadly that never happened so I decided on a last gasp salon and get fishing the next peg downstream which has a nice slack close in. The river was still high but that lovely green winter colour so I was sure there was another bite to be had as it was the witching hour after all. 

So the ever dependable cheesepaste went out and it played out as I wanted it to, because after the 3/4 ounce quivertip settled nicely within five minutes a couple of sharp plucks on the tip I received a drop back bite where I hooked in to a solid fish. It was giving me the run around for a bit but then it decided to play ball after its initial heroics and it was landed safely in the net.

Buffalo Si had left by this point maybe not a bad thing as I didn't want to rub his nose in it !!, but the 3lb 15oz chub was my reward for this whistlestop session. You often don't need a whole day to bank a fish, often fishing at the right time is key to success.